Taipei's original fetish bar — a dim Kaifeng Street basement off Ximending where leather, uniform, and rope themes rotate night to night, the cocktails are better than they need to be, and a notorious darkroom waits behind the bar.
Commander D. (司令餐飲號) is a fetish-themed gay bar tucked into a B1 basement on Kaifeng Street, a few minutes' walk from Ximen MRT and the Red House gay village. It bills itself as Taipei's first kink nightclub, and the room is built for it: low light, heavy electronic music, leather-and-uniform crowd, and a tension you don't get in the brighter bars up the street. Women are welcome; ID is checked at the door.
The programming is what sets the place apart. Rather than one fixed identity, Commander D runs a rotating calendar of theme nights — leather, military, uniform, sock and puppy nights among them — posted monthly on its social channels, with the biggest crowds landing midweek and on weekends. Rope-bondage (shibari) demos and other fetish-play events show up on the schedule too. On themed nights there's usually a door ticket that includes a drink; on quieter nights it runs as a normal order-and-minimum bar.
Behind the bar is the venue's best-known feature, a darkroom that has anchored its reputation on the Asia cruising-bar circuit for years. It's a cruising space in the literal sense — worth knowing what you're walking into, and worth knowing the bartenders and floor staff have a long-standing reputation for looking after first-timers.
For all the theme-night theatrics, the drinks are taken seriously — a recurring note in reviews is that the cocktails are genuinely well-made rather than an afterthought to the concept.
Boy Whispers — February 2020
If you are after fetish plays and bondage, this is definitely the place to go. [...] I strongly recommend to order the cocktails from the bar since the mixing is always in good balance.
Source: Boy Whispers 男男密語
A note on the name: there's a related Commander 紅樓司令 operation associated with the Red House, and Commander D. (the Kaifeng Street basement) is the fetish-focused room of the two. Hours, cover charges, and the theme-night calendar all drift — check @commanderdtw before heading out, especially if you're going for a specific themed night.
COMMANDER D.
Taipei's original fetish bar — a dim Kaifeng Street basement off Ximending where leather, uniform, and rope themes rotate night to night, the cocktails are better than they need to be, and a notorious darkroom waits behind the bar.
Commander D. (司令餐飲號) is a fetish-themed gay bar tucked into a B1 basement on Kaifeng Street, a few minutes' walk from Ximen MRT and the Red House gay village. It bills itself as Taipei's first kink nightclub, and the room is built for it: low light, heavy electronic music, leather-and-uniform crowd, and a tension you don't get in the brighter bars up the street. Women are welcome; ID is checked at the door.
The programming is what sets the place apart. Rather than one fixed identity, Commander D runs a rotating calendar of theme nights — leather, military, uniform, sock and puppy nights among them — posted monthly on its social channels, with the biggest crowds landing midweek and on weekends. Rope-bondage (shibari) demos and other fetish-play events show up on the schedule too. On themed nights there's usually a door ticket that includes a drink; on quieter nights it runs as a normal order-and-minimum bar.
Behind the bar is the venue's best-known feature, a darkroom that has anchored its reputation on the Asia cruising-bar circuit for years. It's a cruising space in the literal sense — worth knowing what you're walking into, and worth knowing the bartenders and floor staff have a long-standing reputation for looking after first-timers.
For all the theme-night theatrics, the drinks are taken seriously — a recurring note in reviews is that the cocktails are genuinely well-made rather than an afterthought to the concept.
Boy Whispers — February 2020
If you are after fetish plays and bondage, this is definitely the place to go. [...] I strongly recommend to order the cocktails from the bar since the mixing is always in good balance.
Source: Boy Whispers 男男密語
A note on the name: there's a related Commander 紅樓司令 operation associated with the Red House, and Commander D. (the Kaifeng Street basement) is the fetish-focused room of the two. Hours, cover charges, and the theme-night calendar all drift — check @commanderdtw before heading out, especially if you're going for a specific themed night.
